NCDNHC notice and webpage

[Michael Sondow <msondow@iciiu.org>]

Molly-

I would like the ICIIU's information at
http://www.icann.org/dnso/constituency_groups.html to read as below.
I will want the list of adhering entities on that page to be links
to their websites, and the phrase "NCDNHC Update" to link to a
webpage (www.icann.org/dnso/NCDNHC_Update.htm) which will contain
the text in the text file attached (ICIIU Position and NCDNHC
Guidelines). If you have any questions about how this is to be
arranged, please contact me.
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The ICIIU is facilitating the organization of the Non-Commercial
Domain Name Holders Constituency (NCDNHC) of the
DNSO by providing a sign-up procedure on its website at
http://www.iciiu.org/NCDNHC.htm, where there is information
about the constituency, the organization of the DNSO, and the Berlin
formation meeting in May, as well as a sign-up form and
instructions for using it. Proposed guidelines for the NCDNHC's
membership and voting procedures will also be found there.

Interested persons and organizations are invited to express their
intention to join the NCDNHC through the ICIIU procedure
as soon as possible in order to permit adequate representation in
advance of the Berlin meeting. 

The following entities have supported the ICIIU's constituency
guidelines proposal and adhered to the NCDNHC:

     -International Congress of Independent Internet Users (ICIIU)
     -Namibian Internet Development Foundation (NAMIDEF)
     -The Communisphere Project 
     -Revista Electronica de Derecho Informatico REDI
     -Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
     -NETSCAN 
     -The Schatz 
     -COMTELCA 
     -The Biological Anthropology Forum (BAF) 
     -Personal Domain Name Holders Association (PDNHA) 
     -Distributed Knowledge Project (DNP)

The ICIIU's proposed guidelines for the NCDNHC, as well as further
information about the controversial process underway to organize it,
can now be found at NCDNHC Update.
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NCDNHC Update: Proposed Guidelines for the Non-Commercial Domain Name Holders Constituency

     ICIIU Position On The Definition Of The NCDNHC

The position of the ICIIU on the question of a membership definition
of the NCDNHC is colored by the fact that there are various
constituencies available to most entites involved in
this process, but that the ICIIU and like organizations have only
one: the NCDNHC. Thus we insist that no persons, organizations,
corporations, or associations of these, may be members of the
Non-Commercial Domain Name Holders Constituency if a significant
percentage of their funding comes from commercial sources, since
such entites and their funding sources are more than adequately
provided with other constituencies in which to influence the DNSO.

This means, for example, that no non-profit corporation, not even
one that is incorporated as a charity, may join the NCDNHC if its
funding comes from private companies organized for profit; for if
such a non-profit corporation were permitted membership in the
NCDNHC it could easily become a shield behind which its commercial
funding sources manipulated the NCDNHC and used its three seats on
the Names Council for votes favoring the commercial sector, rather
than the non-commercial one that was intended by this constituency's
creation.

Under this definition ISOC, although incorporated as a non-profit 
corporation, may not join the NCDNHC if a significant percentage of 
its funding comes from private business and commercial enterprises, 
and the same would apply to its constituent organizations and supporters. It remains to be seen what are the funding sources of ISOC, or for that matter the other entities adhering to the NCDNHC. It may be
necessary to require all associations that apply for membership in
the NCDNHC, the ICIIU included, to demonstrate that they are indeed
non-commercial, that their own constituents are either themselves
non-commercial or do not use monies gained in commerce to finance
the association, that the applicant association does not use the
Internet for profit, that no commerce is done by it through its
domain name, and that, as an association, its constituent members
are not engaging in commercial or profit-making activities through
their domain name and usage of the World Wide Web and the Internet.
For indeed ICANN itself could not join the NCDNHC so long as its
funding came from commercial corporations using the Internet for
profit.

Such a strict exclusionary definition of the NCDNHC is the necessary
consequence of naming and thus defining a constituency by economic
criteria, as has been done for not only the NCDNHC but the Business
Constituency as well. And while the ICIIU may not agree with this
method of construing the DNSO membership we intend to adhere to it
and apply it strictly so that the commercial interests may not
dominate and control the DNSO totally. We believe that this was the
intention of the board when they provided this constituency for the
non-commercial Internet interests, and we intend to preserve it for
this purpose, even if this means taking a very firm stand on
admission to it for associations whose funding is unknown. And were
an association whose funding sources are commercial, or unknown and
in doubt, to apply for membership in the NCDNHC, the ICIIU would
refuse to allow it; and if that organization insisted, we would take
the matter to the highest instances of justice within the legal
jurisdiction of ICANN, ask the court to force the association
applying for membership in the NCDNHC to reveal the sources of its
funding, and, if its funding were found to be commercially derived,
to refuse it entry in the NCDNHC.

Such is the position of the ICIIU as regards the NCDNHC. Let anyone
who expects that the NCDNHC can be easily infiltrated by disguised
commercial interests be forewarned that it is defended against
them. The ICIIU has legal assistance, and it will not permit
commercial interests to consume the NCDNHC, as they are consuming
the other constituencies, the DNSO, and ICANN.

Furthermore, the bylaws of ICANN and the U.S. Government's White Paper 
require that this constituency as well as
all others be open to individuals as well as organizations. The ICIIU
guidelines accept individuals as members of the NCDNHC on an equal
footing with organizations, as is right and lawful. However, other organizers of this constituency as well as organizers of other constituencies are attempting to exclude individuals from membership. They will not succeed, because the ICIIU will not permit it. The Internet has empowered the individual, the independent human beings who inhabit this planet and can now, thanks to the Internet, communicate freely with each other. We do not intend to allow corporations, regardless of how they may be disguised, to take this freedom away from us.
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             ORGANIZATIONAL GUIDELINES OF THE
 
NON-COMMERCIAL DOMAIN NAME HOLDERS CONSTITUENCY (NCDNHC)


I. DEFINITION

    The Non-Commercial Domain Name Holders Constituency (NCDNHC) is a constituency within the Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), as defined in the ICANN Bylaws, Art. VI-B Sec.3.

II. PURPOSE    

    The purpose of the NCDNHC is to provide a forum for discussion of all matters concerning the internet domain name system that relate to non-commercial domain name holders, to formulate policy recommendations on these matters, and to communicate such policy recommendations to the Names Council of the DNSO through the three seats on the Names Council pertaining to the NCDNHC.

III. TRANSPARENCY, OPENNESS, AND DUE PROCESS

    All activities of the NCDNHC, including its deliberative and policy recommendation activities, the selection of its officers, committees, and chairman if such are created, and the nomination and election of its seats on the Names Council of the DNSO, will be conducted in an open and transparent manner in accordance with democratic principles, due process, the rules of order, and the bylaws of the DNSO and ICANN.

IV. MEMBERSHIP

    A. Individuals: All persons having administrative control of a domain name that is used for non-commercial purposes may be members of the NCDNHC.

    B. First-Level Organizations: All corporations of individuals, duly registered as not-for-profit corporations, a majority of whose members do not use the Internet for commercial purposes, and whose principal source of funding is not from commercial enterprises, may be members of the NCDNHC. Likewise, all associations of such individuals, whether incorporated or not, may be members of the NCDNHC.

    C. Second-Level Organizations: All corporations or associations of organizations, a majority of whose constituent member organizations satisfy the criteria of "B" above, may be members of the NCDNHC.

    D. Members of other DNSO constituencies may be members of the NCDNHC if they meet the above criteria.

V. SELECTION OF NCDNHC SEATS ON THE NAMES COUNCIL

    A. General rules for nomination and voting.

     (a) The nomination of candidates and the election of NC seats will be conducted by an election officer, who may be the chairman of the NCDNHC. For the initial nominations and elections, an interim election officer will be chosen by the members gathered. This initial election officer may be a person who is not a member of the constituency.
     (b) There is no limit to the number of candidates who may run for NC seats, but no more than one member of any first-level organization may be a candidate.
     (b) No more than one member, supporter, or representative of a coalition formed as an organizing group of the NCDNHC may be elected to the Names Council in any election, nor may more than one such person occupy a Names Council seat concurrently as an elected representative of the NCDNHC.

    B. Selection of candidates.

     (a) Candidates for NC seats must be nominated by members other than themselves, and their candidacy must be seconded by at least one member other than the member making the nomination.
     (b) Members of the NCDNHC who are unable to be present at a meeting to nominate candidates for NC seats may propose candidates by email before the date of that meeting. A candidate thus nominated will be considered seconded by the chair, or in the case of the initial election by the election officer, pro forma.
     (c) Neither presence at a meeting at which candidates are to be nominated, nor at a meeting at which the NCDNHC's NC seats are to be elected if that is done subsequent to the nomination of candidates, is a requirement for either candidacy or election to those seats.
     
    C. Election of NC seats.

     (a) Voting for the NCDNHC's three NC seats will be by direct vote, each NCDNHC member having three votes that must be cast for three separate candidates.
     (b) Voting will be done by secret written ballot of those present at the election meeting and by proxy.
     (c) Designated proxies are required to present to the election officer an email requesting such from the absent member and sent from that member's email address.
     (d) If more than 25% of the constituency are not present at an election meeting and desire to vote yet express their unwillingness to do so by proxy, voting will be done at least one day subsequent to the day candidates are nominated. In this case the election officer will communicate information about the candidates by email to the absent members, and will request from them an email ballot which will be presented by the election officer at the election.
     (e) Nomination and election meetings for NC seats, as well as other meetings of the NCDNHC in which a vote needs to be taken, may be done by electronic communications if a majority of the members of the NCDNHC wish it, so long as the above rules of order and process are adhered to. If such electronic meetings are held, adequate notification of members must be made by the chairman or the officers of the NCDNHC, or by the person(s) planning to call a vote.

VI. OTHER MATTERS.

All other matters concerning the organization of the NCDNHC and its activities will be decided by vote of its membership once formed. 
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